Family Law at the 2007 Wisconsin Film Festival

Family Law is the kind of movie that regular patrons of the Wisconsin Film Festival have come to rely on year after year.

A foreign-language film with subtitles, it simultaneously allows the cultural elites to feel slightly smug in viewing it, while those who are predisposed to dread these kinds of events will think, "that wasn't too bad."

Filmed in Argentina by director Daniel Burman, it tells the story of an attorney, Ariel Perelman, who tries to figure out his role as a family man while learning some secrets about his own dad, a well-respected attorney himself. I found myself grinning throughout as Ariel tries to balance the demands of being married to a beautiful woman who teaches Pilates in their home and establishing an adult relationship with his charismatic father.

The movie is filmed in Buenos Aires, which is presented as a bustling, but beautiful city that artfully mixes 19th century architecture with modern art. Midway through the film, I made a note to myself to investigate traveling there.

A note about the Stage Door: It's showing its age, particularly on the floor where the red carpeting is irreparably stained black. As fantastic as the Orpheum's main theater is, its annex on Johnson St. is in pretty shabby condition. The sound and sightlines are fine (avoid the front row in the balcony or you'll have a railing in your way), but I wonder how much longer they'll be able to screen films in the space.